Twenty-four patients with suspected
infection (eight bone, 16 lung) were studied using
monoclonal antibody BW250/183 which recognizes
epitopes present on the surface of granulocytes. Bronchofibroscopic samples (microbiological studies and alveolar cell counts) were obtained from 14/16 patients with
lung disease. Bronchofibroscopy isolated a micro-organism nine times. In two other cases, the diagnosis of
infection was based on
clinical course data.
Infection was confirmed by surgical biopsy in the eight patients with bone pathology. Scans were performed 2 and 24 h after injection of 1 mg
BW 250/183 labelled with 99Tcm. For
lung disease, immunoscintigraphy was positive six times (five true positive, one false positive) and negative 10 times (six false negative, four true negative). Immunoscintigraphy was false negative when the lung
infection was not systematized or no granulocytes were mobilized in the infectious site. Immunoscintigraphy was falsely positive when noninfectious
lung disease mobilized granulocytes. It was positive in all patients with bone
infection. Images recorded at 24 h had better sensitivity (five false negative) than those at 2 h (eight false negative).